I
tell you the truth, no servant is greater than his master, nor is a messenger
greater than the one who sent him.
-John
13:16 (NIV)
In John 13:16 Jesus is pulling the disciples back
to reality. How many times have we watched someone do something well and
thought: “I can do that”. Jesus’ ministry and his time on earth were coming to
an end. He knew it and he was preparing his disciples with these last bits of
instructions. Jesus’ ministry lasted about three years. They were wild and wonderful.
Those that saw his miracles were astonished, those that heard his words were
amazed, and those that personally experienced his touch were changed forever.
The disciples’ training was also about three years. They watched and witnessed
Jesus at work; they also experienced what he did first hand. Twice they were
sent out to perform the same miracles they saw Jesus do, and twice they came
back elated at what was accomplished through their efforts. But now it was time
for reality. These words came at the end of another teachable moment. Jesus has
just washed the disciples’ feet. The lesson was humility, servanthood, and
heart felt love. To Jesus, his messianic
activities were more about being than doing. Jesus did what he did because he
was how he was. The same is true for you and me. If we are to be the Christians
we are meant to be we have to be like Christ, but becoming like Christ is not
automatic – there is a price to be paid. Being like Christ come about through
humility, serving others and loving deeply. All the other stuff follows from
that.
“I tell you the truth, unless a kernel of wheat
falls to the ground and dies, it remains only a single seed. But if it dies, it
produces many seeds. The man who loves his life will lose it, while the man who
hates his life in this world will keep it for eternal life. Whoever serves me
must follow me; and where I am, my servant also will be. My Father will honor
the one who serves me” (John 12:24-26 NIV). Being like Christ begins with dying
to self. Jesus’ death prepared a seed of life for us, but we must also die to
self in order for that seed to grow and bear its intended fruit. “Then he
[Jesus] said to them all: ‘If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself
and take up his cross daily and follow me. For whoever wants to save his life
will lose it, but whoever loses his life for me will save it’” (Luke 9:23-24
NIV). It seems paradoxical, but it really is not. Dying to oneself is really
letting go of something that was never meant to be. Adam’s garden sin brought
about a self that was not in the original plan. Dying to self is picking up
God’s intentions for me. It is agreeing with who God wanted me to be all along.
The planted seed bears the fruit of Christian service and that service is borne
out of a heart of love.
The iconic images of Christ are his miracles, his
powerful words, and his dying on the cross. One would think then if I am to be
like Christ I must do the same things, but the real meaning behind being like
Christ falls not in what he did in the physical, but what he did in the
spiritual. The example Jesus set, and the one we must follow comes from his own
words: “Jesus gave them this answer: ‘I tell you the truth, the Son can do
nothing by himself; he can do only what he sees his Father doing, because
whatever the Father does the Son also does’” (John 5:19 NIV). The greatest example
Jesus gave us is the yielding of his will, his intentions, and his activities
to do what the Father was doing. Everything we know about Jesus radiates from
that paradigm. Anything worthwhile, that we will accomplish in our lifetime,
must come from the same pattern.
Therefore, I urge you, brothers, in view of God's
mercy, to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God—this
is your spiritual act of worship. Do not conform any longer to the pattern of
this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be
able to test and approve what God's will is—his good, pleasing and perfect
will.
-Romans 12:1-2 (NIV)
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